Now we were back in the present.
Saint Saturn, in his monstrous form, held Bonney tightly in his massive, clawed hand. His grip was firm, unrelenting—like she was nothing more than something small and disposable.
Around them, the marines stood ready.
Guns raised.
Waiting for the order to fire.
Vegapunk, Franky, and Sanji were all frozen in place, their bodies refusing to move under whatever invisible force Saturn was exerting. Muscles strained, teeth clenched, but it didn't matter—they couldn't break free.
Not even a step.
Not even a twitch.
Elsewhere, Ryo lay in the crater he had created.
His body was battered, completely drained after his fight with Kizaru. He was awake—barely—but he wasn't trying to get up.
He wasn't even trying to move.
And that alone felt wrong.
Luffy was on his way, moving as fast as he could, but even he knew he couldn't waste Gear 5 just to get here faster. Not now. Not when what was coming would demand everything from him.
And nearby—
Kizaru lay on the ground.
Spent.
Still.
For once, he wasn't moving at the speed of light.
He just lay there, staring, quiet... almost distant, as if he was thinking about something he didn't want to face. The girl he had watched grow up. The boy he had trained. Both of them now caught in the hands of the very people he served.
And he did nothing.
Back in the crater, Ryo stared up at the sky.
His hair had returned to its natural red, spilling across the broken ground beneath him. One eye—his single red eye—stared upward, unfocused, distant.
The other was gone.
Hidden beneath an eyepatch.
A reminder of Marineford.
Of loss.
Of failure.
His fox ears had dropped low, lifeless, and his tail lay still against the ground, unmoving.
He didn't look like the Straw Hats' battle-hungry fighter.
He didn't look like the newly crowned King of Beasts.
He didn't even look like a pirate.
He just looked like a boy.
A boy lying there, staring at the sky... questioning everything.
He thought he'd feel something.
Anything.
Ryo (thinking): I fought an admiral, I guess I won, That was fun..but why do I feel empty
His fingers dug into the dirt beneath him, gripping it tightly as his chest began to rise and fall faster.
Too fast.
Ryo (thinking): What have I even been doing since Wano, I set out too sea when I was 17 to become the strongest in the world, I was captured by the celestial dragons because my uncle handed me over to them and I was too weak to resist
I was forced to leave Rayleigh and Shakky when I was 9 because I was too weak to resist when the celestial dragons came back
